Summer Pudding

An old-fashioned English dessert with fresh, bright flavours

A Summer Pudding is a bright, refreshing, old fashioned English dessert that uses the best of seasonal produce. Traditionally, it is just redcurrants and raspberries but I like a combination of different-coloured currants for the flavour and colours they bring.

At Violet, we take inspiration from this classic to make a bright pink, tart buttercream and we have in the past used the stewed fruits in cream scones, but at home, I love the real thing. I’ve been making it with strawberries lately, but I also love jostaberties, huckleberries, or loganberries, if I can get them. Just make sure that soft fruit, like raspberries or loganberries, are only added after cooking the fruit as they melt very easily. Play around with what fruit you can get but remember you’re aiming for a bright, fresh flavour with a beautiful rich colour, and I really think you do need currants that pop like caviar when you take a bite.

The bread should be white sandwich bread from a bakery, or a japanese milk bread or a pain de mie. Plasticky supermarket white bread has lots of additives to make it rise and bake quickly and it tends to get a bit slimy, so avoid it. Don’t be tempted by brioche or sourdough either - you need a good structure. Start the day before you want to serve the pudding.

Note. You will need a 1.5-litre pudding basin or bowl with a flat bottom.

Serves 6-8